1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging for the protective sterile containment of a rigid product and, more particularly, relates to a sealed container protectively enclosing the sterile product, such as a liquid-filled vial, during shipment and handling of the packaging, and upon opening of the packaging in a sterile environment; for instance, a surgical operating room, facilitating the sterile transfer of the product from the packaging into the sterile environment.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The protective containment or packaging of a sterile product, such as a liquid-filled vial which is to be removed from the packaging and the contents thereof dispensed in a sterile environment may entail the provision of a packaging including a substantially rigid resiliently flexible thermoformed plastic container which incorporates therein a clampingly engaging support for the product, and whereby the product-containing container is sealed through the application of a covering comprising a suitable plastic film material to formulate the complete packaging. In connection with the foregoing, the interior of the product-containing packaging is ordinarily sterilized through the circulation therethrough of a suitable gaseous sterilizing medium in order to maintain the product, such as the liquid-filled vial, in a sterile condition during shipping and handling of the packaging, and also during the product being dispensed from the packaging into a sterile environment. For this purpose, the container constituent of the packaging, the latter of which is generally referred to as a "blister package", is formed from a rigid resiliently flexible thermoformed plastic material, preferably polypropylene, which will retain its shape during the sterilizing of the interior thereof with a sterilizing medium, and which concurrently incorporates internal structure adapted to position and grippingly engage the rigid product contained therein so as to maintain the product in a fixed position within the container for its protection during shipping and handling of the packaging. The product-containing container is normally sealed through the superposition of a plastic film which may be heat-sealed to the container and is peelable therefrom when it is desired to gain access to and remove the product from the container, possibly in a sterile environment.
Frequently, packaging including containers of this type and forming so-called blister packages, are thermoformed from a suitable plastic material, as mentioned preferably such as polypropylene, which will maintain its configurational integrity and structural rigidity during sterilizing of the interior of the product-containing container, for example, through the intermediary of sterilizing gases consisting, by of example, of either ethylene oxide, hydrogen peroxide or steam, and in which the exterior surfaces of the rigid product housed in the packaging, for instance, such as a liquid-filled vial, are sterilized by means of the sterilizing gas which is circulated through the packaging.
Although it is well known in the packaging technology to produce protective packaging structures, such as in the shape of plastic blister packages or the like, for protectively housing sterile products, such as surgical and/or medical implements, or liquid-filled vials which are to be ultimately removed from the packaging in a sterile environment; for example, in a surgical operating room, an important aspect in improving such packages resides in minimizing the contact surface areas between the internal wall surfaces of the container and the exterior surfaces of the product to facilitate an essentially unhindered circulation of the sterilizing gas within the packaging about the surfaces of the product. Furthermore, it is also significant to be able to configure the container so as to facilitate the easy sterile removal of the product from the packaging container with minimum expenditure of effort and ease in handling or manipulation subsequent to peeling the protective sealing film from the container.